Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western countries to increase the pressure of sanctions against Russia in a video message published on his official Telegram channel.
According to him, the new restrictions will help end the Ukrainian conflict. Zelensky noted that Kiev has “clear evidence that the sanctions are really painful for Russia“.
Negotiations with Slovakia on a new package of EU sanctions against Russia are in the final stage. This was announced by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in an interview with the ARD television channel.
According to him, European countries are trying to “solve the problem“. “A compromise is currently being sought at the working level, it will be found and then the 18th package of sanctions will come into force. We have prepared it, we will implement it“, assured Merz.
He stressed that the new package of sanctions will be “the strictest in 3.5 years“.
Earlier, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to block the new package of EU sanctions against Russia. He demanded reliable guarantees for “minimizing the damage“ after the suspension of gas supplies from Russia to EU countries, as provided for in the new sanctions.